Nova Heart
by gogogeisha
Summary: A short story surrounding the beginning of the romantic relationship between Shepard and Garrus. Takes place during the events of ME2, with some minor flashbacks to ME1.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first attempt at a fanfiction so any constructive feedback is much appreciated! Thanks and I hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter Note: I promise after this chapter there won't be so much jumping from different point of views; however, I feel that for reactions to the deaths, this is important to get a bearing on where everyone stands.  
**

Shepard had been spaced… Who would've thought that this was how the "Savior of the Citadel" would go down; as a frozen human space icicle, or a charred meteorite… This was not how she had imagined dying. She felt more than a little annoyed that she would not get to go down on her terms. She didn't even have time to check her terminal for a response from Garrus to her last extranet message.

She found herself chanting, "Not like this, damnit, not like _this!_" Damn the spirits, damn God, damn EVERYONE! She was so angry as the frozen planet below her came into view. Whoever this enemy was that blew up her ship, she was going to haunt them.

Shepard only had a few seconds to entertain the thoughts of an incorporeal her following her enemies until they had nervous breakdowns before a much more terrifying realization struck her... She was losing oxygen! Frantically she jerked around, trying to reach her oxygen hose on the back of her suit, trying to do anything to plug the hole. After few moments she stopped moving, she couldn't reach it… her movements were only causing more oxygen to be used up.

Shepard tried to relax and slow her breathing, hyperventilating was not an option however tempting that it was. This kind of death was not one she had planned on; it wasn't one she had grown alright with. Tears demanding to be shed burned her eyes as she stared at the planet she was acutely aware that she was being drawn to… She wasn't just going to suffocate, she was going to burn.

As the planet's gravity took a hold of her, she closed her eyes, trying to steel herself against the inevitable. As she felt herself start to fall, at least it felt like she was falling, she sung softly to herself, comforting herself with a song she had loved as a child;"Somewhere… over the rainbow, way up high…"

Before she got to even finish the first line, she felt the gravity take her full bore. Her remaining oxygen torn from her suit as the suit burned away in the atmosphere. She was able to let out one last scream of horror and pain before she was overwhelmed.

She was dead before she finished entering the atmosphere.

* * *

Joker watched as his commander, his friend, was pulled towards the planet. He was able to patch into her communicator, he couldn't get his to transmit, but he was able to hear her. He frantically moved about the pod, listening to her breathing grow more and more labored. Then… He heard her sing, it was soft, but he had heard it. He couldn't hold it together after that; he couldn't stop the litany of tears and guttural sobs that wrecked through him. He forced himself to watch her enter the atmosphere, forced himself to remember what she had done for him.

* * *

Garrus couldn't believe the last message from Shepard, he had read the words and then immediate shut down his terminal. _Did she just confess that she had feelings for me!_ He stood up and paced his small barracks room. Sitting down again, he reopened the terminal and the messaged blared back at him:

_Garrus, _

_I'm glad you liked the song I sent you; it's something I've been working on for a while. Kaiden has been making an effort to avoid me since we dropped you off, I guess I've been a little short and abrasive without you around… Doctor Chakwas has gone so far as to say I'm going through "Garrus withdrawal"… It's not far from the truth; I miss your ugly mug more than I thought I would. I have this nagging feeling that I won't get to see you again, I don't know why and I can't shake it. Maybe it's this mission; we are out in the middle of nowhere, literal light years away from council space, it has me on edge. In the off chance that my gut is right, I feel like I should tell you something. Garrus, you are my best friend, more than my best friend, I feel closer to you than I have anyone in a long time. I don't want to make things awkward between us, but I think back to all of our talks on the Normandy, I… I just can't leave it at that. I'm sorry. _

_Shepard._

Did she just confess to being romantically interested in him? The message wasn't as composed as he was accustomed to; it was almost as if she was fighting with herself while she wrote it. A tight feeling emerged in Garrus' throat as he thought about it… Shepard and he had many intimate moments while hunting down Saren, but Garrus had always chalked those up to stress. But, with Shepard's awkward wording he started to wonder if maybe it was more than that. Could the famous Jane Shepard really have feelings for him? Could she really have fallen for him, a turian? A bad turian, at that? Spirits, the thought was enough to knock him over.

Before he even had time to talk himself out of it, because he knew he would, he wrote back a curt and simple response.

_ Shepard,_

_ Me too. _

_ Garrus._

It was all he could muster at that moment, and all he really had time for. He needed to be at his training in 5 minutes and it was a 10 minute walk. Closing the terminal, Garrus sprinted out of his room and down the hall. He was going to be living next to his terminal during his free time until he got a message back, he just knew it.

* * *

Counselor Anderson stood on his balcony overlooking the presidium; Joker and Alenko were sitting at a table nearby, heads down and silent. They had just been going over the details of the final minutes of the Normandy's existence… And Jane Shepard's. Anderson had always liked Shepard, probably more than he should have. She was a spirited young woman. Well, spirited was one way to describe her, others would probably have labeled her as stubborn, headstrong, and a renegade. Though, Anderson knew Shepard could be tough when she needed to be, she was generally a well-loved Commander, and her crew adored her.

He couldn't wrap his head around it, she really was dead. Pulling himself out of his own grief, Anderson sighed and finally spoke.

"I'm going to have to come up with a press release on the attack… I'm going to put you two in charge of telling the others, Mr. Vakarian, Tali, Dr. T'Soni and Wrex."

Anderson wasn't at all surprised that Alenko instantly claimed Dr. T'Soni and the Quarian, both were female after all. Alenko had always had an affinity for women, it was probably that affinity that disenchanted him to Shepard, much to the young soldier's dismay. Anderson also noticed that Joker cringed when saying he would tell Garrus and Wrex, though Anderson wasn't surprised. Both races weren't known for dealing with bad news graciously, or even without violence. Anderson quickly offered the pilot a bodyguard if he wanted, but to the kid's credit, he turned Anderson's offer down.

Rubbing his temples, Anderson dismissed the two and moved to sit at his desk. Subconsciously Anderson started to rub his thumb over a picture frame he kept at his desk, it was a picture of him and Shepard on her graduation day from Basic Training, and they were both smiling. He was going to miss her.

* * *

Joker sucked in a deep breath; he had already sent a letter to Wrex explaining what had happened. It wasn't the Krogan he was worried about. Joker always knew that Shepard and the Turian were close, to be frank he was a little worried about how Garrus would react to the news. Joker knew that Garrus was on a one week break from Spectre training, it was an week off before graduation.

Joker mentally scolded himself, "_Way to give the guy bad news while he's supposed to be celebrating, if only you had left the God damned cockpit you wouldn't have to do this."_ He cringed as he made his way, slowly, up to the barracks. He had already asked the gruff Turian at the desk which room was Garrus' and whether he was in; Spectre barracks were a lot like the Alliance ones, constantly checking in and out, curfews, the works.

Finally making his way up the stairs, Joker hated stairs; he counted the doors until he found 208. The lump that formed in his throat three days ago seemed to grow larger as he raised his fist to knock. One, two, it only took two knocks before Garrus was there, towering over the more feeble man. Joker sighed uncharacteristically before trying to put forth his normal bravado. "Hey Garrus, nice digs you have here, I'm amazed you can even fit your porn stash in this tiny room." Without missing a beat, Garrus chuckled before stepping to the side and inviting the human in.

Joker wondered absently if Garrus suspected something was up or if the awkwardness was simply something normal for him. Come to think of it, Joker couldn't remember a time where he and Garrus had spent an extended period of time trying to make conversation. Ironic that it was probably going to be their first meaningful conversation of their friendship. Making his way to a small desk and chair, Joker gingerly sat himself down. Man it felt good to sit, he really hated stairs.

An awkward silence fell upon the two men; Joker was trying to figure out how to broach the subject. To be honest, Joker was more than a little nervous about having to sit in a closed room with what he was sure was going to be a very, very upset Turian. A Turian who had just spent months learning how to probably kill… Everything.

Before Joker could even say a word, however, Garrus was breaking the silence, "So where's Shepard, what brings you all the way up here Cripple? I didn't think you liked me that much!" Even Joker knew that Garrus was putting up a bit of bravado himself, he didn't ask the question with his normal good humor, it seemed strained to say the least. Finally, after staring at his hands for a half a second too long, Joker brought his eyes up to Garrus', letting the words pass his lips that he's been dreading to say from the moment it happened, "Garrus… Shepard is dead."


	2. Chapter 2

The days and weeks after the news hit him were a blur to Garrus. He almost felt bad for how he left Joker, almost. Spirits, he could still remember the recording Joker had played for him like he was hearing it live, the soft song, the screaming. Joker had broken down into tears and Garrus could only put a hand on the broken man's shoulder. He was in shock, he knew it, and he had acknowledged it immediately. He also acknowledged that he needed to leave before the shock wore off and anger replaced it.

He had told Joker that she would not have blamed him, so he shouldn't blame himself. Garrus had meant it too, he knew Shepard would've done the same thing for anyone and that it wasn't Joker's fault for her death – it was whoever attacked them. Garrus could feel his anger grow the longer he thought about it. Without as much as another word, Garrus quickly grabbed a few of his belongings, shoving them into a pack, and left. He no longer cared about being a Spectre; he no longer cared about serving the counsel that had sent Shepard off to die in the middle of nowhere.

He had tried to work for c-sec again, he really did. He had avoided going to Shepard's funeral, even though Tali was insisting constantly that he should go and she made no effort to hide the fact that she was mad that he hadn't gone. He couldn't face it, he couldn't face that the woman he had admired, and cared for, had died while he sat on his ass and did exercise drills. He even tried carrying on the torch, so to speak, of trying to get people to prepare for the Reapers. He clamored and shouted to anyone who would listen. But few did.

Garrus couldn't take it anymore, he was done, he quit. He would find his own way to make the universe a better place; he would do it how he wanted to. No red tape, no rules and regulations. Garrus didn't have to think long or hard about where he would go, he knew almost as soon as he had decided what he was going to do. He was going to go to Omega.

Omega, the piss hole of the universe – Every deviant thing you could want at your finger-tips. Only one person to worry about, really, and that was Aria. Aria didn't care about anything but her own interests, stay out of those and people stayed alive. Garrus wasn't quite ready to take on the _Queen_ of Omega just yet, but he would take on every other gang in the area. Garrus had decided it make it his personal goal to piss every gang leader on Omega off, to be the proverbial thorn in their side. It was something he was going to pride himself on some day. It would be something that would have made Shepard proud.

Eventually, almost two years later, Garrus had found a team he could trust, people who had the same ideals he did. Every one of them had lost someone to Omega, every one of them except Garrus. They looked to him as their leader, he lead them like Shepard had taught him to lead. He was always honest with his squad, always upfront about his plans, he asked for feedback and took it in stride, and he would talk to them all regularly. But, he couldn't bring himself to really care. One time Sidonis, a newcomer to the group, had asked Garrus why he would always sit and stare at his omnitool, at a message no one else ever saw and have a look of "sadness" as Sidonis had so eloquently called it. Much to Sidonis' chagrin, Garrus merely told him it was none of his business and closed the message. It had never really endeared Garrus to Sidonis.

In hindsight, Garrus wondered if that was why Sidonis had betrayed him and his squad. If that's why Garrus was now perched on a ledge, sniping ever gang member on Omega who was coming to try and kill him. If that was why there were body bags full of his former squad below him. If that was why he had failed to live up to the expectations placed upon him. Either way, it no longer mattered now, Garrus had failed, and that much was for certain. Now, how only goal was to take as many gang members out with him as he possibly could.

Something nostalgic hit him as he snipped an Asari Vanguard between her eyes, he smiled at the memory of Feros where he and Shepard were forced to take down what turned out to be multiple clones of a follower of the Asari Matriarch Benezia. He and Shepard had shot the woman so many times they were starting to wonder if they were going to run out of heat sinks, and eventually they did. Shepard had started using her biotics against the woman, but the Asari had been enhanced by the plant-creature they were trying to destroy. In a move that still made Garrus shudder to this day, Shepard had leapt at the woman with a growl that would make a Turian woman sound weak. Garrus still remembered screaming her name and his heart stopping as she started to use her biotics to pummel the woman to death. Garrus still remembered how his breath caught as she stood up and wiped the blood from her cheek and grinned and him and Kaiden.

Kaiden had grimaced at the sight, Garrus had growled in appreciation. Unconsciously, Garrus growled at the memory. He supposed it was around that time that he started to notice Shepard as a women rather than a human. Garrus had never had any interests in humans, they were squishy, had weird fringe, and too many appendages on their hands and feet. But Shepard, she was different. She was a warrior. She was… He stopped on this train of thought; there was no point to it.

_Scoped and dropped._ It was all he cared about now.

Eventually the gangs stopped their endless waves of assault, Garrus knew that they were planning something – what, he could only guess, and his guesses were never friendly. Resetting his early alert alarms so that he could doze to regain some stamina, Garrus sat himself against his snipers nest, sitting up with his rifle still in his hand. He would be ready the moment the alarm went off, now if only he could close his eyes for a bit.

_Garrus woke in his bunk on the Normandy. Shepard and her squad had just gotten back from a mission on Noveria; she had taken the Asari doctor and the Krogan. He didn't like being left behind, but even he had to admit that the Wrex would be a better fit for the close quarter combat that they were likely going to face, and Liara deserved this chance to see her mother. Shepard was dragging herself to the medical bay when he emerged from the elevator heading for the mess hall. He eyed her critically for a moment; she caught his gaze and grinned up at him in her impish manner. Her dark hair was a mess and her sapphire eyes were gleaming with something he could only call "feline", he had heard Kaiden call that look something similar at one point and it stuck with him._

_She had been shot through the hip, though it seemed any major organs had been missed considering the lack of blood – that or it was a quick application of medigel, he didn't really want to linger on which was more likely. _

"_Shepard, I hate to say I told you so, but… Well, you know."_

_He had always been hounding her that he was probably the only one who could keep up with her hap-hazard fighting style and he definitely seemed to be the only one who could predict her movements and which targets she was going to focus on. She had litte regard for her own well-being in a fight and it put him on edge most of the time. She had quickly become his best friend and he really didn't want to have to make another one._

"_Aww, Garrus, you almost sound like you care! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone… Just help me to the medical bay, Chakwas will kill me if I don't get in there ASAP for her to mother hen all over me." Shepard had said, all the while smiling at him. Garrus merely shook his head and quickly swooped her up. She let out a startled yelp, but quickly relaxed into his grip. "You know Garrus, I think this is the first time you touched me outside of a firefight! I feel moved… No, I feel special!" She was taunting him, he knew it and despite himself, he smiled. "Well I could always drop you; see how special you feel then." As he spoke, he pretended to do just that and he roared with laughter as she let out a high pitched scream and latched herself on to his neck. She had punched him in the shoulder for his joke, but by the time they had reached the medical bay, she was laughing too. _

Garrus woke from his dream slowly, moving to check his self-made prison. The gangs were still holding back, he didn't question his luck too much. Settling back down, he let himself drift off once more into memories.

_Shepard had helped Garrus find the doctor he had lost while working for c-sec, she hadn't let him shoot him outright, but the Salarian died anyhow. Garrus had been mad at her about not allowing him to handle it his way, but he hadn't had a chance to talk to her about it yet; they were off to get Wrex's family armor. She had promised him some time to talk when they got back. He hoped she would let them spar, that way he could get out some tension, and get some blows in, without being cited for insubordination. _

_Garrus got his wish, Shepard was there in her work out gear, ready to trade blows with him. That was another thing he had always admired about his commander, even though his species towered over hers, she was never afraid to get onto the mats with him and spar. She even won a good portion of the time. Today though, today he had enough pent up anger to land some good punches. _

_As they started moving around the mat, trading jabs and hooks, she forced him to hash out his feelings._

"_Come on Garrus, get it out, why the hell have you been so moody today." She asked as she socked him once in the side of the face._

_He growled and took a jab at her midsection, hoping to hit a sensitive area. "Why didn't you let me shoot the guy, we ended up killing him anyways!" He connected and heard her let out a satisfying grunt._

_She growled herself before launching herself at him, she managed to hook her legs around his and used her feet to push back on his knees, sending him to the ground momentarily. "You can't control how people will react, Garrus, but you can control how you will respond. In the end, that's all that really matters."_

_It made sense to him, and that pissed him off even more. She had essentially boiled down his intense need to shoot the doctor to his lack of control. That or he was being unreasonable, he really couldn't tell at the moment. Without much thought, he quickly grabbed her wrists and threw his body weight into flipping their position, leaving him on top of her. He glared down at her as she caught her breath, he had never been this aggressive during one of their matches, he could tell it caught her off guard. _

_She gave him a look, it wasn't angry. Garrus couldn't decipher the look completely before it disappeared from her face. That impish smiled returned as she stretched her neck, placing her face too close to his. Before he could react, she planted a kiss on the front of his lip plates. Instinctively he jerked back, effectively releasing herself from his grasp. If he could blush, he would be. He wondered what would have possessed her to do such a thing, with him, with a Turian. However, before he could settle his thoughts, she quickly tackled him again and pinned him to the ground. Before he could voice a question, she grinned down at him. "I win. Lesson over for the day." She moved herself off of him and sauntered her way out of the cargo hold. He just laid there and stared. How, how did this go from him seeding out his aggression with her to him lying on his back feeling completely, and utterly, confused. _

Garrus woke again, this time it was not so subtle and he mentally berated himself for letting his guard down. His sirens were going off and a grenade had just gone off in the room behind him. Time to clean up another of his own damn messes. As he cleared the downstairs room of his assailants and moved to continue to snipe at the next wave from his perch, he silently swore to himself that he would not fall asleep again. He wasn't ready to join Shepard just yet, just a few more gang members to kill off first.

* * *

In a space station somewhere deep in the terminus systems, Shepard slowly began to open her eyes. She was aware of pain, searing deep pain. Her heart rate abruptly increased, her breaths coming in strained gulps as she willed herself to try and move. Before she could do much, however, two figures loomed over her. A woman, _Australian_, Shepard quickly deduced from the woman's accent, and a man of no discernable origin. They were talking, talking about her. Something about not ready, something about losing? She couldn't make sense of the conversation, but she still struggled to move.

And then, just as suddenly as she woke, she drifted back into darkness. Her breath coming easier, sleep taking her over again.


	3. Chapter 3

Jane Shepard was brought back from the dead. She was alive, in all ways that generally counted to people. She wasn't sure how she felt about the situation, about her new gruff truce with Cerberus, about her new "squad" and about her new ship. Her new mission. The Illusive Man had told her that a race called the collectors had been abducting entire human colonies, but to what end? He had mentioned that he thought they were working for the reapers... It made a sick sort of sense.

_Well, if there were ever a reason to bring me back_, Shepard thought as she moved through the new Normandy SR2.

Shepard's latest interaction with a _former_ squad-mate, Tali, had put her on edge. Was she really so different? She understood that it had been two years for everyone else, but for her it had only seemed like a few days. Moreover, Cerberus had changed her biotics. Once an "in your face" vanguard, now Shepard was expected to fight as an infiltrator. Not that she didn't like the idea of sneaking up on people, but it was another difference to her already growing repertoire of growing changes she was having to deal with.

Clutching her own head as she made her way to the elevator, Shepard internally struggled with her emotions. Slapping on her stern "Commander Face", she punched the button for her quarters. At least there was one perk to the new ship design, privacy.

Before the doors even closed, Miranda was there stopping their closure, and effectively stopping Shepard's retreat into solitude.

"Commander, we need to decide where to start. I recommend we go to Omega and pick up the Salarian Doctor Solous."

Shepard already disliked Miranda, the woman had been bossy and condescending every chance she opened her flap of a mouth. Shepard didn't even want to know the woman's reasoning for walking around in a skin-tight Cerberus cat-suit; Shepard guessed it had something to do with sex and power. Either way, Shepard was in no real mood to argue with the woman, and Shepard had to admit she was right… They needed to do _something_.

"Alright, Miranda, punch in the coordinates. I'm going to take a shower. EDI, alert me when we're within a ten minute ETA."

The AI confirmed her selection and, thankfully, Miranda seemed pleased with her agreement; pleased enough to leave her alone.

Shepard waited out the rest of the elevator ride to her quarters before unceremoniously pulling at the latches to her armor and dropping the pieces to the floor. As she moved about her room, she finished disrobing herself, leaving under armor and armor pieces everywhere… She would clean it later, right now all she wanted was a nice shower.

Slipping into her bathroom, one that was much larger than she was accustomed to on a military ship; _This isn't a military ship, just look at your living quarters – A God damned fish tank and Queen sized bed. _She had to chide her-self, she wasn't ungrateful for the change, but it was again, more changes. Shepard grunted in agreement with her own thoughts and quickly turned the tap on, giving the water a moment to heat to the desired temperature.

Before she could distract her-self with the shower, she caught her reflection in the quickly steaming mirror. The first thing she noticed, the first thing that made her cringe, were the stark, red glowing lines on her cheek and jaw. Miranda wasn't kidding when she mentioned that Shepard wasn't "done". Taking a step back, Shepard examined the rest of her body as best she could. A long scar traveled from her shoulder blade, across her back, and stopped just at the front of her hip line. She absently wondered if that was a pre-revival scar, or something she had gained from her reconstruction. It seemed to be still pink, still fresh, but she wasn't sure how long she had functioning skin.

And with that thought, and the growing heat to the room, Shepard bent over the toilet and unloaded the already vacant contents of her stomach into the metal receptacle. The idea of her without skin did her in, her entire day, her current squad, her old squad, _being dead_, it all came to the forefront of her mind. Reaching her breaking point, Shepard sat on the ground and leaned herself against the corner of the shower, resting her head on her knees, her tears mixing with the warm water cascading down her body. _What was she._

What seemed like an eternity later, Shepard emerged from the shower, eventually having managed to wash her-self. She had pleasantly noted that Cerberus certainly did their homework, providing her with her favorite shampoo, soap and conditioner. At least there was something familiar in all the chaos; at least she had something of her old life.

Stepping down the stairs to her living room? Sleeping area? Whatever it was called - the area with her couch and bed; Shepard pulled a tank top and pair of shorts on from her limited wardrobe selection and fell onto the bed. Staring up, she looked through the rather large porthole above her. She saw open, empty space rushing by. She couldn't understand why anyone would think that would be comforting to her given that space was part of how she had _died_. Rolling over and covering her head with her blanket, she avoided looking, she tried to avoid thinking as well… But, that was a fools' folly.

She tried not to think about Kaiden, Liara, Wrex and Anderson. She tried damned hard not to think of Garrus, but that was even more of a failure. Grumbling, Shepard reached over and put her omnitool back on, pulling up her personal messenger, she typed out a short and to the point message to Garrus' old omnitool account, she wasn't sure if it was a c-sec issued one or his personal, but it was worth a try.

_ Garrus,_

_ I'm alive… I guess. Where are you? I could really use a friendly face right now, though, don't get me wrong, I still find your mug terrifying. I find comfort in terrifying, I suppose. Either way, please, if you get this, let me know. Even if you can't join me on my newest suicide-impossible mission, it would be nice to have someone to talk to. Cerberus, I'm not sure if you know who they are, spent a lot of money to bring me back… But I don't trust them. I saw Tali and she barely talked to me, I guess that's the hazard of having a full funeral and everything. Your friends mourn you and move on; it's a little disconcerting to come back after that. The only person I don't know what happened to is you, and I'm worried. I'm worried about you, I'm worried about me, I am worried about what's going to happen._

_ What if Cerberus installed some sort of chip in me? What if, after everything is said and done, they flip a switch and I stop being me again? Everything will go blank and I won't even have a comforting void to return to. Ugh, all of this speculation isn't helping me. Either way, let me know that you're ok. Thanks._

_ Shepard._

Shepard stayed up a bit longer than she intended, hoping for a reply that never came. She wondered what kind of messages she had on her Alliance terminal, though she didn't think she would get access to that any time soon.

Eventually, despite her thoughts and her anxiety, Shepard managed to fall into a restless sleep. Her dreams reminding her of better times, her memories washing over her as she relived the good, the bad and the loud voice telling her to wake up.

Wake up?

EDI's voice became clearer as she was waking from her dream state, they were apparently within ten minutes of Omega.

Shepard opened her eyes and found herself staring into space, a moment of pure panic took her and she yelled loudly and flung herself from the bed. Taking a minute to regain her bearings, she slowly remembered that she wasn't spaced, she was safe in a ship with an obnoxious XO, a nosy AI, her favorite Pilot and a litany of other people. Making a point for focus on her breathing, Shepard finally spoke to the AI who's tone, Shepard noted, was growing more concerned by the second.

"Thank you, EDI, I'm awake." Shepard ground out as nicely as she could muster. Moving to the bathroom, she found herself tripping over her own armor.

"God damnit, this is the last time I leave shit everywhere."

Making her way to the bathroom, Shepard calmed her unruly hair, straightening some curls and allowing the mohawk that was ensuing to relax until her hair fell into place properly. She didn't have overly short hair; it fell to just above her shoulders. It was the cut she had always had, at least Cerberus did their homework. In the dark, artificial light of the bathroom, her hair looked black and her skin pale.

She was lacking her normal bronze hue, most likely due to not seeing sunlight in two years. She wondered absently if her hair would still have that same red in it when the sun illuminated her head. Sighing, she did her make-up and continued to get suited up; Miranda wouldn't want her to be late.

* * *

Omega really was a dirty, nasty place. Shepard couldn't get over the fact that within five minutes of being here, she was already being called out to meet some big, bad, gang leader. Aria, she thought the Batarian had said. Moreover, she stumbled upon one of her dossiers as the man beat another Batarian silly. She put her hand on her hip and waited for the tattooed and scarred man to finish his… interrogation.

"Zaeed I presume?" Shepard had asked, her tone coming across more bored than she intended. Normally she would have been outraged over the beating of the unarmed man, but right now she really couldn't muster the energy to care. She had died, he was getting beat up, it didn't seem like something she should get overly worked up about at the moment.

The aggressor turned to her and began hashing out his terms of employment, help him take vengeance on someone, yadda yadda. It was all the same. She curtly agreed before sending Miranda back to the ship, he seemed more useful than her biotics and she didn't know what to expect when going after the good doctor. EDI had just informed her that there was some sort of plague going on and that the Blue Suns and the Vorcha were having marital disputes over the area.

* * *

Shepard couldn't help herself, she liked Mordin Solous instantly. The man chattered much too fast, but she didn't mind. With her normal haste and bravado, Shepard fulfilled her end of the bargain to get Mordin to come with them, dispatching the last Vorcha rocket launcher with a sniper's bullet to the face. If Cerberus had to change her biotics, she was glad they provided her with a lovely new sniper rifle. Trade-offs sometimes had their perks, she assumed.

Beginning to feel more like herself with every fight that ensued, Shepard nearly skipped her way out of the life support corridors. Maybe a good fight was just what she needed to relieve her stress. The day was looking brighter already. Even Jacob seemed to relax from his staunch military demeanor and joke with her. Zaeed had been cracking off-colored jokes the entire time, she wondered if Jacob was warming to the man. Shepard certainly was.

After ensuring that the Batarian she had helped when they first entered the quarantine zone had been properly attended to, Shepard and Mordin reached a mutual understanding and agreement on his participation against the collectors, who had apparently set this entire plague in motion.

That was two dossiers down, she wondered if they were all going to be this simple!

* * *

Their next dossier happened to also be on Omega, Archangel. Aria had said that the man had pissed off pretty much everyone and was now holed up in some apartment fighting off the major three gangs in the system. Shepard had to admit, she was more than a bit impressed. Pissing off the gangs to the point of working together? That was a feat in and of itself, but staying alive for over a month while they try and take you down? Even more impressive.

Following Aria's advice, Shepard posed as a merc looking to take down the infamous Archangel. She feigned some sort of beef with the man and was instantly accepted as part of the "distraction" squad. She didn't like the idea of being cannon fodder, but it got her close to her quarry. Once she, Jacob and Zaeed made it to the rendezvous point, she made a point to go around and talk with all the gang leaders, apparently they all had a personal beef with Archangel. The man knew how to get under people's skin, she liked it.

Messing with the heavy Mech and taking out the gunship repair man had all been standard affairs for Shepard, she even stole the repair man's smokes. She hadn't smoked in years, but now seemed like the time to start again, hell, she was stressed. Lighting a cigarette, she waited for the go-ahead sign from their designated captain. Letting the other mercs attack first, Shepard merely stood back with her pistol in her hand and waited until she was far enough back to start taking out the opposition before they realized that they were being shot at from both sides.

She glanced up and saw a Turian head pop out of cover to snipe some of the aggressors and she smiled, he was a pretty good shot. She advanced quickly, shooting any mercs that Archangel didn't take out, all the while smoking what remained of her cigarette. Dropping the butt to the ground she killed the last Krogan aggressor before Archangel unlocked the door to his hideout. Apparently he got the point that they were friends and not foes, even though he had landed a concussive round into her shoulder and it still stung.

"Archangel?" Shepard asked in way of getting the man's attention while she rubbed her sure to be bruised shoulder; he was already back to sniping the mercs still trying to attack. The gang's had to know that their plan had failed by now.

After a tense moment, the Turian stood and moved into cover, removing his helmet as he did so. It took Shepard a moment before her breath caught. Blue markings and blue eyes stark against brown-grey plates. Exhaling audibly, Shepard said with tangible relief "… Garrus…"

She didn't know how to react, she didn't know if he would welcome her throwing her arms around him in a hug, but it definitely had crossed her mind. She studied him for a few more moments before taking a few determined steps to close the distance between them.

She was surprised when Garrus put his hands on either side of her face and studied her closely; he dragged her face close to his and inhaled deeply. She briefly wondered if he was going to reject her as a false Shepard; in fact, she feared it more than she had realized. But, it ended up not being the case, he was apparently satisfied that she was her, he enveloped her quickly in a bone crushing hug.

"Spirits, Shepard, it's really you." He ground out. He was tired, she could tell, there was also something else to his voice, something she didn't recognize.

Abruptly Shepard remembered that they weren't alone, and Zaeed and Jacob had their weapons trained on Garrus, waiting for the Turian to attack, to make one wrong move. Without hesitation, Shepard motioned for them to lower their weapons and looked back to her friend.

"So, Garrus, how the hell did you end up in a mess like this?" She couldn't help herself, amusement laced her voice and the side of her mouth ticked upwards. She had only had such a display one other time since waking up and that was when Dr. Chakwas and Joker made their presence on the new Normandy known. Slowly, slowly she was regaining her footing.

"Get me out of here and I promise to tell you the whole damn story." Garrus chirped back, not missing a beat. She nodded and they began to get to work on extracting him from the hole in which he dug himself.


	4. Chapter 4

Garrus thought he was hallucinating; it wouldn't be the first time since this entire debacle started. He had seen a flash of familiar blue eyes, hair color that reminded him of _her_. He had caught a glimpse of a familiar gait, that same cool confidence that he had come to cherish. Without fully realizing what he was doing, he found himself searching her out, this woman who reminded him of his Shepard.

He found her again, drinking in the sight of her like a man dying of dehydration. He gulped repeatedly, his mouth dry with the horror that he was either encountering her doppelganger or hallucinating vividly. He watched the woman, who was flanked by a rather nasty looking merc and a man wearing a uniform littered with Cerberus insignias.

Cerberus, a terrorist organization whose sole purpose was to put human's "on top", or "their rightful place", some sort of self-important soap box. He growled instinctively. Had they cloned her? Had they altered someone to look like her? He wouldn't put it past them. The thought made him irate. His rage boiling over when he witnessed the woman bring a cigarette to her lips, _his_ Jane Shepard did not smoke.

Despite his rage, Garrus couldn't bring himself to put a round in between the imposter's eyes; she looked too much like the woman he had been mourning for the past two years. Instead, he settled on the next best thing, a concussive round. Hitting the woman square in the shoulder, she shot him a venomous glare, unknowingly meeting his gaze. His breath caught, she looked so much like her.

She had shot one of his attackers in the back of the skull. She was aiding him… He didn't know what to think of that just yet, his Shepard imposter was trying to help him. Sliding easily into old habits, he started taking out enemies around her, keeping them away from her; protecting her, as he had always done. He started to wonder if he really cared that this woman was an imposter, would he really do what she wanted anyways, simply because she looked like the woman he was realizing years too late that he loved?

* * *

Garrus couldn't believe his eyes, his nose; this woman **was** _his_ Shepard. She talked like her, acted like her, smelled like her. She had recognized him instantly as well, it was usually hard for humans to differentiate between Turians. He could tell she had been hesitant on how to act, to be fair he know didn't either. But then she took a few fateful steps towards him and he couldn't hold himself back any longer. He took her face into his hands and gazed at her, sniffed at her, before taking her desperately into his arms and crushing her against himself with force enough to make their armor creak. Spirits it felt so good.

He couldn't believe his luck, she had found her way to him again, he had so many questions, and as he lay dying, all he could do was stare up at her as she called out his name, demanding that he stay with her; and then the darkness took him.

* * *

Shepard followed the two men in front of her desperately tending to the severely wounded Turian, she was still in shock. Garrus, her Turian, had just taken a rocket to the face. Having seen him lying, broken, in a puddle of his own blue blood, Shepard had found herself praying to whatever deities she could think of that he wouldn't die. The moment Garrus took a gurgled breath and clutched his rifle, eyes wild and searching, Shepard finally let go of the breath she wasn't aware she had been holding in.

Mordin and Dr. Chakwas met the group at the Normandy airlock, ready to take immediate action with Garrus. They quickly rushed him down to the medical bay, frantic calls for medication and surgical instruments singing through the air after them.

Shepard had to believe that they would be effective, that Garrus would be fine. She waited for the elevator to free up and managed to make her way back to her quarters. She needed to debrief with Jacob, but at the moment she just wanted to get out of her armor. Blue stains were already drying all over the hardened material on her gloves, arms and knees. Slipping into her cabin, she quickly disrobed and put her armor in the cleaning bin.

Shepard unintentionally took her time about dressing herself after that, she found herself pacing through her room absentmindedly. She couldn't gather her thoughts, couldn't focus on what she knew she needed to do next – to keep going. Images of Garrus lying broken on the ground, blood pouring from his gaping would, kept flashing to the forefront of her mind. She needed to get a grip. She needed to focus.

* * *

Finally, a few hours later, Shepard made her way down to the CIC. Jacob had called her down to talk about Garrus' condition, Shepard was holding onto every bit of hope that she could that the Turian would make it through his ghastly injuries. She had managed her barricade her quickly spiraling emotions in the back of her mind. If Garrus died, heaven help the people around her, but for right now – she was sane.

Standing in the debriefing room, Jacob went over everything that had been done to Garrus – Shepard only heard half of it, she was taken aback by everything that had been required. Implants, cybernetics… Would his cheeks look like Saren's now? She had remembered the piston looking metal on the side of her old enemies' face under his mandibles. She shuddered instantly, about to pose a question, before the woosh of the door caught her attention.

Garrus strode in as if he hadn't just tried catch a rocket to the teeth, looking about the room before his eyes locked onto Shepard.

"… No one would give me a mirror…" he had mentioned.

"Hell Garrus, you were always ugly." Shepard retorted, not with her normal virility and spice, but there were hints of her old bravado lacing the words.

Garrus simply stared at her for a moment before walking over and placing a hand on her cheek. "Shepard, I'm worried about you. Cerberus? Are you sure that you can trust them?"

Averting her eyes, trying to suppress the blush that was creeping up her cheeks, she shook her head slightly. "No, but that's why I'm glad you're here, Garrus. If I'm going to go into Hell, I want someone I trust by my side."

Garrus couldn't help it, her words had stung slightly, _was that the only reason she wanted him here?_ Playing off his ego, he dropped his hand and began to head to the door. "You do realize that this plan has me walking into Hell as well, right? Ah well, I'll be down at the main battery, calibrating the guns." He stalked out as calmly as possible; his questions still unanswered and only now bubbling to the surface clouding his thoughts.

* * *

Shepard's cheek felt hot where Garrus had touched her, she wondered if it was his body heat or if it was simply because _he_ had touched her. She wondered why he hadn't stayed to talk, for them to swap questions back and forth. She found herself leaning on the table in the middle of the room, her mind racing with why he seemed to want to get away from her so quickly.

_Is he mad at me? I mean I wouldn't blame him… I would be mad if someone had "died" and then magically appeared two years later._ She wondered why Garrus hadn't asked her about that, did he care that she had been gone? She had thought he did, the way he had hugged her, the way he touched her cheek – it was all like he was trying to convince himself that she was real. Maybe he still wasn't sure? Maybe she wasn't "back to original". The doubt still plaguing her, she went to find Garrus in the battery. She wanted to try and talk to him.

* * *

Garrus wasn't surprised Shepard had found him so quickly after their talk in the CIC, she wasn't one to usually let so little go unsaid, but he wasn't ready. He was fighting with the need to treat her like a mate, to bring up her cryptic letter she had sent him before he found out she had died… If she really had indeed died. He was mad at her, feeling like she had left him to suffer for two years while she kept going like nothing was wrong. He wondered if he could ask her the questions that were difficult for him to even piece together in his head at the moment.

"Shepard, need me for something?" He asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.

She seemed to fidget a bit under his gaze, her confidence wavering before she asked, "Just wanted to talk for a bit, do you have a minute?" He found her wavering confidence unnerving, normally it took more than a talk with a possibly upset friend to make her nervous.

"Can it wait a bit, I'm in the middle of some calibrations." He hadn't meant for the statement to sound harsh, but he instantly regretted turning her away when he saw her wince. She merely nodded and walked out of the battery without another word. He watched her go, fighting the urge to chase her, but he needed to straighten out his own thoughts first, he needed to get answers he wasn't sure he would get out of her.

Garrus went towards the medical bay, Dr. Chakwas and he had always gotten along, he would ask her questions until he was satisfied; and afterwards he would go to Joker. He wanted to have as many of the facts as he could get.

* * *

Shepard went about her normal rotation, checking in with each of the crew before making her way back up to her cabin. She wouldn't find any sleep tonight; she couldn't stop herself from lying in bed and staring out her viewport. She let her mind be blank, forced it, really. She didn't want to think about why Garrus was avoiding her.


	5. Chapter 5

Garrus was a Turian on a mission. His first stop was the most logical, the ship doctor. Garrus had always gotten along with Dr. Chakwas, but getting along with someone and pressing them for information on someone they were close to were two different things. He tried his hardest not to slip too far into c-sec mode, he really didn't want to interrogate the woman; he just wanted some answers.

Being on Omega for as long as he had been, Garrus stopped having the initial inclination to believe that his "friends" were going to tell him the truth. Did he really believe that the good doctor would lie to him openly? No, but he wanted to err on the side of caution all the same.

Walking into the medical bay, the doctor was already turning around at the sound of the doors opening. Garrus tried to act casual, act like he hadn't a care in the world, and he was sure he was failing at it. His failure was evident in the way Chakwas cocked her head to the side and regarded him for a moment before asking, "What can I do for you Garrus, is your wound bothering you?"

The pair was long past formalities, their time working together while trailing Saren had made them comfortable enough with one another to drop any formal titles. Still, even now it struck Garrus as odd for a military doctor to be so lax with formal protocol. Waving his hands in a manner to suggest that he wasn't here for anything of the sort, Garrus muttered softly, "No, no, nothing like that. I just… Have some questions, Doc."

Chakwas was a bright woman; she relaxed slightly and motioned to the seat in front of her, non-vocally asking him to sit. He supposed she knew what his questions were about judging from the expression on her face – one of sadness and understanding. It made Garrus' gut wretch slightly that the thought of having to explain what happened to Shepard would draw this kind of expression out of a woman such as Dr. Chakwas, a woman who had seen the carnage of what military life brought to its' inhabitants.

"I promise, Garrus, to answer to the best of my ability. Shepard has already made it quite clear that she would rather someone else explain what had happened to her anyways." Chakwas spoke confidently; apparently Shepard and her had already had a conversation about questions pertaining to her absence. He absently wondered why Shepard wouldn't want to be the one to answer the questions personally.

"Did she die, or didn't she?" He ground out the question, he had to. He needed someone else to confirm it for him, as if it wasn't already real enough to him.

Chakwas looked almost angry at the question, as if Garrus was suggesting that Shepard would really just disappear for two years and let her former crew, her friends, her family, mourn her. Quickly reigning in her own annoyance, Chakwas nodded as she spoke, "She did really die, in a horrible and real fashion."

Garrus had no glint of hesitation before firing out another question, "Then how is she here today? How is it that she is walking? Is she a clone?" He reminded himself not to ask too many questions at once, he needed every single one answered, he was getting too excited.

Chakwas blinked for a moment, she was taken aback by the string of questions Garrus seemed to blurt out as if a dam wall had broken. Had the man not been so obviously desperate for answers, she might have even laughed a bit. Instead, she focused on answering the questions asked and not the manner in which they were delivered.

"In order: Cerberus, specifically The Illusive Man, poured unlimited credits and resources into bringing Shepard back, as she was originally. She is not a clone, they used the best and brightest in tissue and organ regeneration, and cybernetics, then threw enough money at them that they finally figured out a way to get a human to regrow damaged tissue. She is the same Shepard, just plus some cybernetic implants." Chakwas kept her eyes on Garrus, watching him absorb the information she was giving him.

Garrus felt a wave of surprised relief wash through his body. _She really was her. She was brought back to him._ He almost got up and left the medical bay before asking his other questions; he almost floated away on a cloud of relief to his bed in the battery. Almost.

"How does The Illusive Man plan to keep her reigned in? She isn't exactly known for following orders, is there a control chip?" Garrus felt it safe to keep to three questions at a time; long enough to get a lot of information, short enough to still remembered what he asked. He kept his intent gaze on the doctor, looking for any hint of a lie; his last question was the most important.

Chakwas actually looked shocked for a second at the direction his questions had drifted, she was more than a little impressed that Garrus had thought about a possible control chip, Jeff hadn't. It was a logical question, though. "There is no control chip, or any other device implanted in her. I checked myself when she came to my office the first time on her rounds. Right now she and The Illusive Man have similar goals, to stop the collectors from abducting any more colonies, after that she has made it clear to both him and the crew that their alliance will end. She is using the resources he is willingly offering her, she isn't looking a gifted horse in the mouth," Chakwas wondered after the fact if Garrus would get the reference, "though, I feel she is just as worried as you are about some measure to control her."

Garrus had no idea what a horse was and why its' mouth would be gifted, or what the phrase even meant, but he didn't care. He would ask someone about it later, at a less important time. Unable to formulate anymore questions for the doctor, Garrus stood and thanked her for the information before heading out of the medical bay towards the elevator. He still had some questions for Joker about this whole mess.

* * *

Shepard had made her way into the starboard observation room, she was leaning her hip against the wall while she looked out the window into space, a glass of strong brandy in one hand, a cigarette in the other. She had promised herself she wasn't going to smoke much on the ship, but she couldn't help it. Garrus brushing her off was keeping her mind occupied, too occupied to sleep.

Resting her forehead against the glass, she sighed and watched her breath leave wisps of condensation on the glass. She needed to get shit faced and fast – she needed to stop thinking about all that she had lost. Lost time, years, friendships, comfort. She didn't feel alive, not really. She felt pain, she felt loss, she even briefly felt joy… But it didn't last. She wondered if it ever would, or if she was going to be broken forever.

She gulped down the rest of her brandy and doused her cigarette into the glass. Placing the glass on the bar, she made her way back to her cabin, there was no point for the crew to see her doubt plastered all over her face.

* * *

Garrus had asked Joker about much of the same things that he had Chakwas, comparing their answers and finding no differences. Joker of course didn't know many of the medical details, but he had known the main gist of what had happened to Shepard. Joker was able to illuminate some of Garrus' questions on the Normandy SR-2 and the new AI who liked to be referred to as EDI. Joker's talk hadn't comforted Garrus the way Chakwas had; in fact it had quite the opposite effect. Garrus was now wondering if he was being watched everywhere he went, every move he made. It didn't help that EDI would answer questions he had posed to thin air – more rhetorical than actually needing an answer.

Garrus sat on the floor in the battery – he had been calibrating a component in the main gun and had been moving to grab a tool he needed when a thought hit him – Why hadn't Shepard come to visit him. He had been on the ship for a few days and she had been decidedly avoiding him. Occasionally he would ask EDI about Shepard's whereabouts, and the AI would always answer truthfully – even going so far as to ask if he wanted to let the Commander know that he was asking after her. He had vehemently denied that question; he didn't need her to know that he was being obsessive.

Before Garrus could ask the AI again about her location, Shepard stalked into the battery. She didn't even bother to try and find him, just yelled out for him to get ready and that they were going planetside for a mission. She left as abruptly as she entered, as if avoiding giving Garrus the chance to even talk about anything with her. He fumed, well if she didn't want to talk and just wanted to order him around, fine. He could play that game just as well.

* * *

Shepard had agreed to help Zaeed with wreaking some revenge on someone who had wronged him and Shepard felt the need to kill something. She was furious that Garrus was avoiding her. He just sat in his battery all day _calibrating_. She was giving him space since her first attempt at a talk where he blew her off. She was not one to chase someone down and make them talk to her, so instead she merely bottled it up and fumed over it for days. Now, she felt like she was going to explode and Zaeed's revenge mission seemed like just the opportunity.

But just because Shepard was mad at Garrus didn't mean she didn't need him at her six. She stormed to the battery and barked an order at him and then immediately left, not even waiting for an answer. Two people could play the "brush off" game and she was sure she was better at it than he was – she was an undead abomination after all, she could probably shit dark matter if she tried hard enough.


	6. Chapter 6

The trip down to the planet was quiet, awkwardly quiet. Each person in the shuttle was in their own world; Zaeed undoubtedly contemplating his close-at-hand revenge, Garrus about the distance growing between him and Shepard… and Shepard about Garrus. Garrus shifted uneasily against her scrutinizing gaze which for some reason had settled on him. She was the one avoiding him; he couldn't understand why such a look had been directed at him.

He didn't have a whole lot of time to analyze the look she was giving him, however, as their shuttle roughly hit the planet's surface and Shepard had bolted out the door at the first chance she got.

* * *

Shepard was trying to analyze the void growing between her and Garrus, when she had found him after her resurrection he had seemed more than happy to have her back in his life, but now he seemed strained with it… Or he had, at least. He had no issues meeting her gazes now; he was no longer acting like she didn't exist. Had she misread something? The idea bothered her slightly. She needed to mull over this while killing some mercs.

The moment the shuttle doors opened, Shepard was primed and ready for a fight. She nearly bounced out of her seat in time with the shuttle's jar from contacting the ground. Before she had even taken three steps, her sniper rifle was in her hands. She was ready for some visceral action to help clear her thoughts.

Shepard had always used the battlefield as a form of reality check; it was, after all, where she felt the most comfortable. She was in her element while in battle, she knew what was expected of her and she even felt a sort of joy at being so good at what she did. Shepard and Garrus hung back and let Zaeed take point, he knew where they were going better than she did. As she sighted her first target, she felt an eerie calm take her, pulling the trigger she watched the merc's head explode through her scope. She allowed her mind to race with thoughts of both personal and the rather subdued battle taking place.

Had she misread his initial brush off? She didn't think so, he had seemed like he couldn't get away from her fast enough. A thought flashed through her head that made her stop in her advancing tracks, her arm went slack with the realization that slapped her in the face. She had been watching Garrus fight and the cool calculus in which he took out his targets. He used to gloat a bit more, used to be a bit more cavalier about battle… Now he was, well, deadly. She was judging him based on the actions of a person that was no longer there. Sure, Garrus was still Garrus, but he was harder, colder, jaded.

A shot whistling past her head and knocking out her shields brought her out of her reverie; this was no place to have Shepard-Jarring realizations. Dodging back under cover just in time to catch another shot into her shoulder's soft tissue, Shepard let out a string of curses. Shepard popped out of cover just enough to catch a glimpse of the merc that managed to clip her from across the rocky terrain, he was a sniper – and a bad one if he missed her head and only managed to clip her shoulder, if she hadn't been distracted he never would have hit her at all. She cursed at herself again for good measure.

Planning her retaliation as Garrus and Zaeed took out the remaining mercs, she peaked out of cover again to get a bead on her squadmates and in the process, and she caught Garrus staring her down with a grim sort of look. He had apparently watched her catch the round… She flashed him a rare smile full of wry humor and mischievous vengeance. Flipping on her cloak, Shepard quickly ran the expanse to her would-be killer, flipping out her pistol before bringing it to the man's head.

"No one gets to shoot me and live to talk about it." She muttered as the man's eyes went wild with the realization that he was no longer hidden, no longer the predator but now the prey. A vicious smile crossed her lips as he locked eyes with her, just before she pulled the trigger.

Casually walking back down the path to her comrades, she made sure to pump her wound with some medigel. No sense worrying about it now, it didn't even hurt anymore. She winked to the two and motioned for them to advance.

* * *

Garrus had been watching Shepard grow more distracted by the minute, she started out determined but shortly after the shooting actually started, he watched as a frown started to etch itself on her face. He wondered what was distracting her to the point that she was becoming sloppy, it was highly uncharacteristic. Well, he had to admit that he knew better than to call it uncharacteristic. He pointedly remembered more than a few firefights while they were looking for Saren where Shepard would decide that it was a good time for her to sort through her thoughts and it almost always ended with her getting shot somewhere.

He grumbled to himself as he watched her take a round in the shoulder. At least he had to admit that she was just as predictable and lacking her self-preservation now as she had before… He found himself wishing Cerberus had implanted her with a little more self-preservation and a little less battlefield masochism.

As Shepard popped back into view after wreaking her revenge on her assailant, Garrus dropped his weapon as she shot a genuine smile at the two men; he wanted to throttle her for taking so little care with her own life. Apparently whatever she was working through, she was now done and ready to continue moving forward. He just shook his head and chuckled slightly, _same old Shepard._

* * *

She was furious; Zaeed had forced her hand with the mercs, now he was forcing her to choose between innocents and his loyalty. She had let the inconsiderate bastard know that under no uncertain circumstances if he did something like this again, she would space him without a second thought. She knew that she was about to witness something nightmare inducing, she knew that she was going to regret her decision here today… But she needed the merc's allegiance at any cost. Slapping on a mask of the impassive Commander, she moved through the refinery.

The screams were the worst part, she could hear people dying. She could have saved them, _Damn you Zaeed!_ Trying to ignore the fact that the screams were dying down, the trio worked their way through the refinery, killing the remainder of the Blue Suns in the building, taking down a heavy mech in the process. Shepard made sure that the boys picked up every extra heat sink, for all she knew the man they were after had an unlimited army of mercs at his disposal, he was certainly throwing his men at them like he had an unlimited supply.

Shepard, Zaeed and Garrus stepped out onto the launch pad; apparently their target hadn't thought to keep a guard with him. Shepard stepped aside and let Zaeed finish his business, she watched impassively – for all she cared, the man they had hunted down wasn't worth the ammunition it took to kill him, but Zaeed seemed to think that he was worth quite a bit of ammo… and some fire.

* * *

Garrus couldn't believe what he was seeing, Shepard was letting innocents burn. He understood the need for loyalty, he understood that Shepard needed the merc's help – but this seemed a stretch even for her. He felt a little better that she had threatened the merc with a spacing had he pulled something like this again, but he couldn't believe that Shepard was so impassive about all of this. Not that he expected her to throw a tantrum and smack the ground in a fit of rage, but he still expected more than he was seeing.

As he listened to the screams of the people stuck in the refinery, he had to stop himself several times from saying "fuck it" and rushing off to try and help them. He kept glancing to Shepard, trying to discern if she even heard the screams, if she even cared. Then he saw her tick, saw the tell he was searching for. Shepard kept clenching her jaw, every scream that radiated into hearing range, she would tense.

Why the hell was she allowing this to happen then?

The three started to make their way back to the shuttle, but Garrus needed to get this off of his chest _now._ He grabbed Shepard's arm and held her back, nodding for Zaeed to keep going to the shuttle. Zaeed took the hint and moved towards the shuttle, out of sight. When Garrus turned his attention back to Shepard, she was staring up at him with inquisitive eyes.

"What the hell was that, Shepard? Letting innocents… How could you make that choice!" He tried to keep his voice calm, tried and failed.

He didn't even try to keep a hold of her arm when she jerked back, his gut clenched at the look on her face – it was a mix of hurt, regret and surprise… then anger. She apparently hadn't thought he'd have an opinion, she thought wrong. She leaned against a rock outcropping and casually looked him over, too casually.

"Well Garrus, I needed Zaeed to be loyal, I need all the help I can get. I made the decision and I'll stick by it." Her voice was flat, she obviously felt that her decision didn't need any more explanation then that. She was wrong again.

"You never would have sacrificed innocents in the past, have you really changed that much? Has Cerberus really changed you that much?" He spat the words, but all venom was gone as soon as the last jab was out. He hadn't meant it, he was angry at the situation, at her cavalier attitude, but the moment as his words hit her – he had to clench his fists to keep from simultaneously reaching out to her and punching himself in the jaw.

She cowered then, his words had stung more than he had meant, he saw her start to break, saw her start to doubt herself – not her decisions, but herself. She started to stutter, she was losing composure and quickly. He couldn't help it then, he grabbed her and pinned her against the rock. God he felt like an ass. He unfastened one of his gloves and ran a hand through her head, feeling her shake against him.

Burying his face against her neck he started to apologize, repeatedly. He'd never seen her lose composure like this, he'd never witnessed her fully break down. He was an asshole for pushing her over a breaking point.

* * *

Shepard couldn't believe Garrus had just said that to her. _I've changed?_ She felt her control rupture; tears began to sting her eyes demanding to be released. She was never one to just break down and cry, but something in Garrus' words struck a chord with her, brought forth her deep dark fear of having been rebuilt by Cerberus. She was about to tell him… To tell him… She wasn't sure what she was going to tell him, but it wasn't going to be a thank you.

But then he moved to her, pinning her to the rock and running a hand through her hair. The anger in him seemed to dissipate and she was left staggered by the feeling of him so close. It felt like an intimate move, his face against her neck. She shuddered again, a different type of control waning. She felt his lips brush against her skin as he repeatedly apologized, goosebumps rushing over her skin.

Absently, she brought her hand to rest on his neck, just below his fringe, and she felt him tense from the contact. Immediately, she moved her hand, afraid that she had just overstepped some Turian boundaries. Before she could move her hand too far, Garrus growled softly and moved his hand from her hair to grab her wrist, placing her hand back on his neck and then replaced his to her hair.

It was his turn to shudder against her, their intimate position moving from one of comfort and contrition to one laden with a desire they were both, obviously, feeling. Garrus pulled his head from her neck to look into her eyes, apparently pleased with what he saw there, he hitched her further up his body, moving her legs to wrap around his hip spurs. The position put them almost at eye level and he moved to rest his forehead against hers.

Her breath caught, she knew this gesture, she had witnessed other Turians doing this to people they held affection for – romantically inclined affection. Her fingers massaged his neck eliciting another growl from deep in his chest, this one going straight to the heavy warmth pooling in her belly. Finding courage in his gesture, she moved and brushed her lips over his mandible, her free hand caressing his jaw. He shuddered against her again, his weight becoming more pronounced as he ground against her slightly. He let out a soft, strangled moan of her name and she was done.

She was ready to rip the armor off of the two of them, to take control of this ride. She was ready, she was sure he was ready, but the universe was not ready.

Joker interrupted their moment, "Uh… Commander… Zaeed had given word that the mission is over and was a success, Miranda is pacing wondering when you're going to get back, apparently she has some dossiers for you two to go over."

It was Shepard's turn to growl, deep, guttural, and annoyed. Of course, the world couldn't give her just a bit a peace yet. Nope, she still had to atone for some sin or another. Dropping her head back against the rock, she sighed. "Alright Joker, we'll be off in a few moments. Tell Miranda to keep her panties on."

Joker obviously holding something back merely barked out a half laugh of "Rodger" before cutting the channel. Shepard wondered if he had any inclination as to what was going on down on the planet.

Locking eyes with Garrus, Shepard smiled softly, "Continue this on the ship?" She was hopeful, that hope bleeding into her voice a little more than she wanted. She wasn't sure the extent of Garrus' feelings, but from his gesture before, she could fathom a guess. Garrus curtly nodded before disentangling them from each other, although not completely. As they made their way back to the shuttle, Shepard noticed that Garrus had not once removed his hand from her – he was keeping part of himself touching her at all times.

It was going to be an interesting night.


	7. Chapter 7

**a/n: Alrighty, this is my first shot at a "romance" scene - so I apologize if it under-fulfills! Reviews always appreciated and welcomed! Even corrections and critique :) **

Shepard didn't give herself time to look at anyone as she stalked off the shuttle. The ride back to the Normandy hadn't been the reprieve from the encounter back on the planet that Shepard had hoped it would be. She rubbed her forehead as she entered the elevator, oblivious to everything except her own thoughts. She had almost made it the entire elevator ride to her cabin before she realized that Garrus was standing next to her.

He was staring at her. Intently. She fidgeted a bit as they stood there, utterly alone and just enough time had passed from their earlier encounter to make her awkward about it. Was it just flow over anger from the fight, or was there something to what they had been doing? She sighed a bit and began to rub at her forehead again. She was slowly going to overthink herself into a migraine.

To Shepard's immediate relief, the elevator doors slid open and she was able to put some distance between her and Garrus. Once distance was achieved, she turned back to look him in the eyes, not bothering to hide the emotions playing through her – there would be no Commander mask on tonight.

"Was that a pissed off Turian thing, or was that…"

She couldn't finish her question because Garrus had started to growl. Goosebumps ran over her skin as her eyes widened – he was, angrily, removing his armor and unceremoniously depositing it on the floor. She briefly noted that he had managed to get just inside her door before he started his disrobing, and had also locked her door. She gulped as many questions threated to bubble to the surface, a statement rose to her lips despite herself.

"You've been avoiding me, you didn't want to talk to me, to touch me."

She had sounded more hurt than she meant to, she winced at herself and then again when she caught the look on Garrus' face. He paused once he got to his under armor, looking at her with what could only be described as a Turian's version of the "deadpan" look.

"You were avoiding me! Spirits, Shepard, Jane, I've spent two years mourning you! Why would I want to avoid you right when I've gotten you back! You've been avoiding me!"

He was practically yelling by the end, his chest heaving with the effort it took for him not to start throwing things around the room. Shepard couldn't help it, the shock of him finally using her first name coupled with her obvious misrepresentation of the events took her over, she started to laugh. Covering her mouth and shooting Garrus a look of sincere apology as she nearly lost her footing. God she had been so stupid.

"I'm sorry… Garrus, I thought you were mad at me. I thought you were avoiding me, apparently neither of us are very good at reading each other."

She was still chuckling as he closed the gap between them, he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her with tender amusement before his face twisted with concern.

"Mad at you? About what?"

She didn't even hesitate in her answer.

"Dying, coming back, I don't kn-"

Before she finished her sentence, Garrus had pulled her harshly into his chest. She could feel his heart thrumming against her cheek, his breath turned angry for a brief moment.

"I would never be angry at you for either of those, especially for coming back. Spirits I mourned you when you died," his voice cracked faintly, "I was so ready to follow you when you found me. I've only wanted to be with you for two years."

His confession broadsided her; obviously she knew he was attracted to her – but that level of devotion? She had no idea. Before she had time to doubt herself out of it, she raised her hand to his unblemished cheek and mandible. All the emotion she was feeling plainly written on her face as the words left her lips before she could censor herself.

"You were the last thing I thought of when…" She stopped herself, she will not relive her death right now, "You were my first thought when I woke up. God Garrus I love you so –"

She slapped her hand over her mouth as the last bit slipped out; she wasn't going to ruin this by pushing him into something he wasn't ready for. She knew he cared, but not to that extent. She looked up at him wide-eyed, terrified at herself.

Garrus simply chuckled and tugged at her wrist, pulling her hand from her mouth.

"I love you too, Jane; spirits it feels so good to say that out loud."

He pressed his forehead against hers, absently wondering if she understood the significance of the gesture. The smile never left his eyes as he gazed into her own blue orbs. He watched the realization of his own confession wash over her, reveling in the feeling of finally having something right come together.

She chuckled nervously before lightly punching him in the chest.

"You're never allowed to die, Vakarian. I would raise you from the dead just to kick your ass around the galaxy. God we're so messed up."

She said the last bit with exasperation at the past few days. Shaking her head, she looked up at him. She felt lighter, freer than she had since waking up. Finally, she was starting to feel like herself. Tentatively moving her hand to cup his neck below his fringe, she pulled him down kissed his lip plates. The kiss was soft, reassuring, she sighed against his lips and closed her eyes for a moment, taking in the feel of them together.

Before she could fully register what was happening, he was simultaneously growling and lifting her to get a better angle. She gasped slightly and gripped his neck tighter, his growl tempo increasing with the action. Never taking his eyes off her face, he moved them further into her room. The intent was clear; they were going to finish what they had started planet-side – only this time they knew what was between them.

The air had been cleared of the emotional baggage, but what about the physical differences? That was going to be a whole other challenge.

As they moved further into the room, Garrus began unfastening her armor, removing each piece like he was unwrapping a treasured gift, his eyes roaming over her face. He planted little kisses – or his version of kisses, more like little nips of his teeth and plates – down her jaw and neck, eliciting soft moans from her lips. Finally, they made it to the bed and he pushed her under-armor down, leaving her in a tank top and pair of black short-style panties. She suddenly felt a little self-conscious at her lack of feminine clothing, but she wasn't allowed to dwell on it for long.

Before she could say anything, Garrus was slipping out of his own under-armor, leaving it bunched at his waist for now. His torso was completely unclothed and as Shepard glanced over him, her breath caught. He was so marvelous, so perfect. She didn't know what she was expecting, never having really seen an unclothed Turian before, but whatever she was expecting – she was pleased with what she saw. She ran her hands over his chest before he caught her wrist and simultaneously growling and flashing a Turian smile. Pushing her backwards more, her legs bumped into the bed she had forgotten was there and she fell backwards with a small yelp.

He fell with her, pinning her arms above her head and using her hands, and a nudge from his knee, to push her more fully onto the bed. He used his free hand to explore her body as she had just been doing to his.

"Let me explore you, please Jane… I've…"

The words that he was pleading stopped when he caught the look on her flushed face. He let go of one of her hands, the other remaining entwined with his. Her free hand gripped the bed, as if to keep herself from ruining his own exploration with her own. She nodded silently to him, breaths coming in gasps from her lips as she ground her hips up slightly against his strategically placed knee. He hissed at the contact, pressing his forehead against the side of her neck as his free hand began to roam over her torso – learning the planes and dips, enticing more moans out of her as his hand slid up her tank top, glancing over her sensitive rib cage and heading closer and closer to her breasts.

Breasts worried him, not that he didn't appreciate that male humans found them attractive, but he didn't know how to handle them. Were they to be handled roughly? Was any of her to be handled roughly? Deciding not to tempt fate just yet, he moved his hand from North to South, deciding that the region he should get to know more was the one under her deliciously tight shorts. She whined slightly at the loss of contact but then moaned loudly as his hand slid under the brim of her shorts. He abruptly realized that there was nothing but flesh under them and he groaned against her neck. She was so hot.

Testing the waters, Garrus found the entrance to her sex and was pleasantly surprised to find it pre-lubricated. Softly, he explored her folds with his finger, careful not to cut her with the sharp plating. His head shot up slightly when she gyrated her hips against his hand, the moan ripping through her throat nearly sending him into a primal state that was against his better judgment. Smiling slightly, he cautiously slid one finger into her and groaned as her muscles gripped it, enticing him further in. What would that feel like against his organ? He shuddered at the thought.

"Tell me how to please you."

The request was more guttural than he normally spoke; the effect not lost on her as she took her free hand and joined his in her underwear. She positioned his rough palm against a nub of skin at the top of her sex, grinding the palm slightly, she squeaked out a moan that was quickly followed by a shudder. She encouraged his finger to move slowly inside of her as she ground her hips in time with his slight thrusts. Before long, she pulled his hand away slightly and directed his already moist finger to the same nub; she showed him how to ghost feather-light touches over the piece of skin that brought her moans out more forcefully, her body shuddering in time with each touch.

He was mesmerized; such a small piece of flesh could cause her to lose control like this? He would have to tease her more often – but for now she seemed awfully close to climax and he wasn't sure he wouldn't join her – which would be embarrassing as all hell since he was still clothed from the waist down. Seeming to mirror his thoughts, Shepard pushed his hand away.

"Please, Garrus. I can't wait any longer. H-Have.."

She couldn't finish her sentence, she didn't have to. In one quick moment, Garrus stood, fully slipped out of his clothes, and was back to being positioned over her. Hiking her legs up around his waist, he groaned as her thighs cradled his narrow, sensitive hips.

"I, I don't know that I can hold back."

He was suddenly acutely aware that his control was slipping. Any control he had was lost when she looked at him with sheer determination and need.

"I don't want you to."

That simple statement threw him over the edge. She was excepting him completely, no fear, no hesitation. He returned the gesture in kind, lifting her hips and thrusting himself into her harshly with one quick movement. She was impossibly tight; he heard her breath hitch as his length impaled her. He started to worry that maybe he had hurt her, but she gripped her muscles around him and he growled loudly at the action – female Turian's couldn't do _that_.

Relentlessly, his control slipped. Growling and hissing, he thrust into her at a demanding pace. He had just enough peace of mind to register that she was clinging to him, matching his thrusts, and screaming in time with his growls. It was, quite possibly, the most fulfilling moment in his existence, it was the most at peace he had felt in a long time. He was getting so close to spilling inside of her and judging from her heightened moans and screams, she was pretty damn close herself.

Grinding up against him harshly, Shepard clenched her muscles hard as shudders wracked her body. Her orgasm hit her hard and completely. Moaning out Garrus' name more lustfully than she ever remembered saying anyone's name, she felt him tense.

Before he could register what he was doing, Garrus placed his face against her shoulder, his teeth embedding themselves into her soft flesh. She screamed his name out, no pain present, just desire. His orgasm came upon him abruptly, the moment she said his name. He didn't even have time to think about what he was doing, his body going into overdrive as he marked Shepard as his mate – his permanent mate. Her moaned against her flesh as his orgasm moved over him, wave after wave. He jerked his hips multiple times, the need to make sure that she felt every spasm prevalent in his mind.

As his mind started to come back to him, he rolled off of her. He pulled her with him slightly, her leg draped over his waist as she cuddled against his side. Both of them were heaving with the exertion they just put themselves through. Chuckling softly, he felt her snuggle against him before she propped herself up on her elbow to look at him. He couldn't remember a time he had seen her this relaxed.

A twinkle in her eye had him gracing her with a curious glance, she smiled devilishly.

"Again?"


	8. Chapter 8

Garrus had been a bundle of nerves and hormones since his night with Shepard. He was apprehensive about having marked her without talking to her about it first; that whole general consensus discussion on where their relationship was headed. Hell, he wasn't even sure if she wanted anything permanent with him and here he was, marking her as his – permanently. Well, permanently in his mind.

He had made a few honest attempts to talk to her about it as they headed out for another mission, this time to pick up some sort of biotic mastermind prison inmate; but, every time he tried she would touch him on his neck in just the right way… or nudge against his waits in a suggestive manner. At those points his rational thought was gone and all he could focus on doing was making her scream out his name. He had never been this single-minded in all of his previous affairs.

He knew that when a Turian male marked a woman there was a sort of honeymoon period where his only thought was to continually bring her pleasure (a resulting side effect being to impregnate her, but that was obviously not going to happen in this case); but, Garrus had thought himself above that. He had thought that he had enough self-control to be able to sit down and have an adult discussion with his Commanding Officer… and lover… about the turn he inadvertently took their relationship on.

He knew he was full of shit at this point.

"Self-control my scaly Turian ass." He muttered into the calibration console. He knew he was only fooling himself.

Garrus had a lot of time to think about the _why_ in this situation. He knew that he had reacted strongly to her coming back from the dead; he knew that he was possessive almost to a fault over her ever since she came back. Garrus also knew that his feelings for her went further back than just when she had sent him that damned message before he found out she died. They had never talked about the message, he wondered if she even knew he had responded since he doubted that she had access to the Alliance mail system now.

He needed to admit to her what he had done, he knew it wasn't fair to her to hide it and she needed to decide if it was something she wanted to pursue or if he needed to cut his losses right now.

Spirits he did not want to have this conversation with her right now, he was not ready to cut his losses yet.

* * *

Shepard was standing in her bathroom, examining the bite mark on her shoulder. Her mouth slightly agape as she processed what she had just read. In a moment of curiosity, Shepard had done an extranet search for "Turian shoulder biting"… Or marking, was what it was apparently called. Garrus had marked her as his mate.

How did she feel about that? Exhilarated, enthralled… a little scared. She had never considered herself the marrying or mating type, being someone in her line of work it wasn't always a viable option unless the person understood the pressures and responsibilities that she would be under. She couldn't be there for kids, she couldn't be there for holidays… And Garrus would understand all of that; in fact, he would probably be right next to her during all of those times, fighting alongside her.

With that realization, she asked herself if it would be such a bad thing for her to be mated to Garrus. Her whole body screamed a resounding "NO" to her unspoken question. No, it wasn't a bad thing, she found herself wanting this.

But why hadn't he told her? He had plenty of opportunity over the past few days. Shepard had a sudden spark of realization, again – He did always seem like he wanted to discuss something with her when he was coming to her quarters, but she had been too busy throwing herself at him to really allow him to talk. Bollocks, she had probably given the impression that she only wanted him for his sexual abilities.

She solemnly swore to allow him to speak next time he came to her quarters, she wasn't going to give in to temptation.

* * *

The Normandy docked with the prison station and Garrus, Shepard and Zaeed emerged from the ship. The guards uselessly tried to get the trio to give up their weapons, but Shepard was having none of it. No, she would keep her guns thank-you-very-much. Luckily, there wasn't much of a need for her to make her point with violence since the king of this little prison island was going to appease her and let her keep herself armed. _Good._

The made their way in the direction of "out processing", only stopping to dissuade a guard from continuing a beating of an unarmed prisoner; a Turian beating an unarmed and probably untrained Human seemed viciously unfair.

Shepard had to admit that she wasn't overly surprised when the out processing room turned out to be a trap, everyone just had to have an angle on her. She had enough, this king of the shithole was about to get a piece of her mind and none of her credits.

"Worth more as a prisoner? We'll see what I'm worth when I burn this place to dust, FUCKTARD!"

She was fuming as she killed her way to Jack's chambers, she was going to get her "package" and get the fuck off of this station. Watching it burn from the Normandy would be so fulfilling later. Shepard was mildly surprised to find that "Jack" was a young woman, a heavily tattooed young woman. Shepard let out a hum of amusement, however, when the young woman wrecked two mechs with her biotics and began to tear her way through the station.

Shepard felt a strange sense of "haha motherfuckers" as she followed in the wake of Jack's destruction. Convincing the woman not to attack her and her team would be one thing, but Shepard was looking forward to simply having a conversation with this psychotic biotic.

Garrus suddenly felt the need to comment on the destruction they were both witnessing and partaking in as waves of guards after guards were pressing down on them as they moved from section to section.

"Holy Hell, I thought only you could leave a body count like this, Shepard."

Shepard couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips as she responded.

"Hey now, she got here first; I hardly have anything to shoot now, she's killed it all!"

A rocket whooshed by Shepard's head as she slid behind cover, in truth she was feeling a little underwhelmed by the situation. A heavy mech and only ten combatants? Child's play. She felt herself fall into cover next to Garrus, the two of them taking turns sniping the enemy while Zaeed took point. They made quick work of their quarry and moved on to the next room, only to find the guard captain well-fortified in his own little corner.

"What a bitch." Shepard couldn't help the statement leave her lips. She really felt like this was a cop-out of a move, he was hiding behind his own mass effect field while what remained of his force threw everything they had at them.

It didn't take Shepard and Garrus long to target each of the field generators and take them out, and even less time to put a bullet in between the infuriating man's eyes. All in all, Shepard was counting this trip as a success – all they had to do was find Jack.

Heading back towards the docking bay seemed to be the best bet, considering there really wasn't anywhere else on the ship for the young woman to go. The group walked out just in time to witness Jack's temper tantrum at seeing the Cerberus sponsored vessel outside the docking bay.

Shepard had to give it to the woman, three heavily armed individuals walk up to her after obviously making it through whatever mess Jack didn't already decimate and she had the gall to threaten them. But, alas, Jack made the comment that Shepard sounded like a pussy. Any self-respecting woman of violence should not let that stand, and in that fashion, Shepard used her fist and introduced it to Jack's mouth.

Flinging the now unconscious woman over her shoulder, Shepard triumphantly walked back to the Normandy, not missing the attempts at stifled laughter behind her from her squad mates.

* * *

Shepard waited in the medical bay for Jack to reawaken, which really didn't take long with Dr. Chakwas wafting strong smelling salts under the woman's nose. Not missing a beat, Jack surged forward and nearly hit the older woman – but not before Shepard stepped in and put a hand on the biotic's throat.

"Look here, _Jack_, I think we've already established dominance by the fact that you are now on my ship. I want to recruit you for a mission, if you don't want to join, fine. I'll drop you off at the nearest port. But, if you do join I promise there will be lots of things for you to kill and a pardon waiting for you."

The tattooed beast of a woman seemed to consider Shepard's words carefully before shrugging out of her grip and muttering out a "Fuck Cerberus". Shepard decided to head that off at the pass as well.

"This mission is sponsored by Cerberus, yes, but they do not own this ship nor her crew. I'm not asking you to be loyal to them; I'm asking you to help me and my crew. Once the mission is done, assuming you survive, you are free to go where you please when you please."

Jack seemed to lighten up at the declaration against Cerberus ownership, she really didn't have much of a choice at this point and why the fuck not – a full pardon would be her reward. She looked up at the Commander in front of her and made one simple demand.

"I want full access to Cerberus' files."

"Granted." Shepard didn't even flinch as she agreed to the terms, they were simple enough and Shepard didn't give a Varren's ass what the woman found in there.

"EDI, give Jack access to the Cerberus file mainframe and unlimited access to the files within."

The AI signaled that it had been done and Jack maneuvered off of the medical bed and skulked off towards the elevator.

"I'll be in the cargo hold, no one to bother me there."

Shepard had to admit, this was going to be a very interesting suicide run… And she was going to have to get her face melted off by Miranda when she found out that Shepard had given Jack access to the files.

Never a dull day on the Normandy.


End file.
